Stewart went on a humorous riff mocking the "news" that "both
sides have put numbers on paper."

Not surprisingly, Stewart found President Barack Obama's initial
offer to be fairly balanced. The Republican counteroffer, he
said, was pretty much what would happen if lawmakers went over
the cliff, and he compared it to "Stalin f***ing a bald eagle."

Stewart didn't find much hope for a future compromise with the
way negotiations are going right now. That led him to his
conclusion: "Let's just go over the ... cliff!"

"Let's just go. Because, you know why? At least for a few
seconds, it'll feel like we're flying," he said.